Endless track vehicle



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flg ylie AQzLoraxs'a Patented June 16, 1936 NITED STATES PATETApplication October 19, 1934, Serial No. 749,107

In France October 30, 1933 a 10 Claims.

The present invention relates in general to endless track vehicles andmore particularly has reference to means for facilitating the turning ofthe vehicle during steering thereof.

This application is directed to one of the modifications referred to inmy copending application Serial No. 697,186, filed November 8, 1933.

An object of this invention is to provide means for lowering one set ofthe load-supporting rollers bearing on an endless track relative to thevehicle in order to concentrate the entire load of the vehicle thereonand thereby facilitate turning movements of the vehicle.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for applyingtheenti're load of an endless track vehicle upon the load-supportingrollers positioned substantially at the center of gravity of the vehicleby efiecting relative vertical movement between the chassis of thevehicle and certain of the load-supporting rollers by a mechanismactuated by the power unit of said vehicle.

Still another object of this invention. is to pro vide a mechanismadapted to be connected and disconnected with the power unit of anendless track vehicle to effect relative movement between the chassis ofsaid vehicle and load-supporting rollers positioned substantially at thecenter of gravity of said vehicle and means controlled by the steeringmechanism for connecting and disconnecting said mechanism to the powerunit.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention consists inthe parts and combinations hereinafter described and set forth in theappended claims.

In accordance with the present invention, means are providedformechanically shifting the load of the entire vehicle to theload-supporting rollers mounted at substantially the center of gravityof the vehicle so that during turning movements the end portions of thevehicle will not engage the ground and hinder the turning movement. Incarrying out the present invention, the intermediate set ofload-supporting rollers are mounted for vertical movement relative tothe chassis of the vehicle and a toggle linkage is provided forefiecting the relative movement between the rollers and chassis. Meansare also provided for operating the toggle linkage from the drive shaftof the power unit of the vehicle and means are associated with thesteering mechanism so that upon operation thereof, the toggle linkagewill be actuated to facilitate turning movement of the vehicle.

As a modification the end rollers are raised to shift the load to theintermediate rollers.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown mechanism embodying thepresent invention.

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a vehicle embodying the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a modification of thepresent invention.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a vehicle 20 provided withendless tracks 2! extending around forward and rear wheels 22 and 23,respectively. The vehicle is also provided with the load-supportingrollers 24 which are connected to the chassis of the vehicle byequalizers l3 and associated mechanism. Three sets of. carrying rollershave been shown, the end sets being afiixed to the chassis of thevehicle and the intermediate set being mounted for vertical movementrelative to the chassis. The equalizer [3 of the intermediate set ofrollers 24 is pivotally mounted to a block 13' through which extends thevertical bar 25. In order to effect vertical movement of the block [3'on the bar 25, toggle links '9 and l2.are provided. One end of link 9.is connected to a pivot [0, which is fixed to the chassis by means of asupporting member ll. The other end of the link 9 is pivoted to a pin 8which serves to connectlink 9 with link l2 and with a drawbar or rod 1.Link I2 at its other end is pivotally connected to the block l3. It willbe realized that by moving the pin 8 laterally, the block l3 will movevertically on the bar 25.

For effecting lateral movement of the pin 8,

draw-bar I is connectedto a lever or arm 6,

which is supported upon a stub shaft 6" carrying a spur gear 26 of astep-down transmission 5. A pinion I4 is mounted upon a transverse shaft4 and meshes with the gear 26. As shown in Fig. 2.0f the drawings, shaft4 is connected by suitable gearing and a clutch 2 to the drive shaft ofthe vehicle. Clutch 2 is operated by a lever 3.

With this mechanism, it will be appreciated that upon engaging theclutch 2, power from the drive shaft of the vehicle will be transmittedto the pinion l4 which, in rotating, will turn the lever 6 about theaxis of shaft 6, and due to the connection between the end of the lever6 and the pin 8 by the draw-bar l, the toggle linkage will be actuatedto lower the equalizer ill on each side of the vehicle and, in effect,transfer the entire load of the vehicle to the intermediate set ofrollers. When the load is so'applied to the intermediate set of rollers,the vehicle may turn freely. The angle of displacement of the lever B islimited by the stop 16, so that the opening of the toggle linkage islimited. The length of movement is predetermined so that the togglelinkage can never be brought completely into a straight line. Uponopening, the toggle linkage moves its fixed pin 10 away from thecarrying set of rollers, thus raising the vehicle for support only onthe central carrying set of rollers.

It will be seen that, at this moment, all or most of the load of thevehicle is transferred to the central carrying set of rollers, thusfacilitating the turning.

The above described construction also permits f the load to betransferred almost entirely to the extreme sets of carrying rollers,during normal operation, the central set of rollers merely serving, soto speak, as a guide for the endless track. The suspension of thevehicle is thus improved, due to the distance apart of the points ofsupport on the ground.

In order to render the device entirely automatic, the lever 3 forcontrolling the clutch may be actuated by the steering gear IT, forexample by means of a small lever forming a cam I8 (Figure 2) In thisway, for each movement imparted to the steering gear, there will be acorresponding raising of the vehicle by the central rollers.

It will be understood from this description and the drawings, that thisdevice is reversible, that is to say, as soon as the pull on the rod 1ceases, the vehicle will re-assume its original position under theaction of its weight.

The device is shown diagrammatically in Figs. 1 and 2 as applied to acentral set of two rollers, but it is to be understood that the numberof the rollers of this set may vary more or less, according to the sizeof the vehicle.

Furthermore, it will be observed that a similar device may be applied ina difierent way, for example, instead of acting on the central set ofrollers and raising the vehicle, it is possible to provide a mechanismacting on the extreme sets of carrying rollers. In this case, theefifect of the mechanism will be to raise the carrying sets of rollersrelatively to the chassis, instead of lowering them as in the exampledescribed hereinbefore.

In Fig. 3 a modification is shown in which the central set of rollers isfixed and the end sets movable so that they can be raised up from theground to shift the load entirely to the central set of rollers. Asshown the end sets of rollers are mounted for vertical movement andtoggle links 9' and 12' are associated therewith, bars 1 connect thepins 8' of the toggle linkages with the lever B of the reducingtransmission 5 which is connected to the drive shaft of the vehicle asshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Upon actuating the clutch, lever 6 will move in the direction of arrow21 and the toggle linkages will be operated to lift the end sets ofrollers from the ground.

It will be seen that the final result will be of the same order since,by raising the end sets of rollers, the load will be automaticallytransferred to the central set of rollers.

The mechanism described here shows an example of the mechanicalconstruction of the invention. It is evident that other mechanisms maybe constructed to attain the same object.

I claim:-

1. In an endless track vehicle having a chassis, a power unit mountedthereon, a pair of spaced endless track-carrying wheels mounted on eachside thereof, an endless track mounted on each side of the chassis oneach pair of spaced wheels, a plurality of load-supporting rollersmounted on each side of the chassis and bearing on the ground-engagingstretches of the endless tracks, one of said rollers on each side of thevehicle being positioned approximately on a transverse line passingthrough the center of gravity of the vehicle, a toggle linkage foreifecting vertical movebent of the rollers positioned on said transverseline, means for actuating said linkage, and means for coupling theactuating means to the power unit of said vehicle.

2. In an endless track vehicle having a chassis, a power unit mountedthereon, a pair of spaced endless track-carrying wheels mounted on eachside thereof, an endless track mounted on each side of the chassis oneach pair of spaced wheels, a plurality of load-supporting rollersmounted on each side of the chassis and bearing on the ground-engagingstretches of the endless tracks, one of said rollers on each side of theVehicle being positioned approximately on a transverse line passingthrough the center of gravity of the Vehicle, and steering mechanism, atoggle linkage for effecting vertical movement of the rollers positionedon said transverse line, means for actuating said linkage, means forcoupling the actuating means to the power unit of said vehicle,

and means controlled by the steering mechanism for actuating thecoupling means.

3. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit, aplurality of load-supporting rollers positioned on. each side of thechassis, an endless track associated with said rollers, an intermediateroller on each side lying approximately on a transverse line passingthrough the center of gravity of the vehicle, means for mounting saidintermediate rollers for vertical movement relative to the chassis, atoggle linkage connecting each of said intermediate rollers and chassis,and

means actuated by said power unit for operating said toggle linkage toeffect lowering of said intermediate rollers.

4. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit, aplurality of load-supporting rollers positioned on each side of thechassis, an endless track associated with said rollers, an intermediateroller on each side lying approximately on a transverse line passingthrough the center of gravity of thevehicle, means for mounting saidintermediate rollers for vertical movement relative to the chassis, atoggle linkage connecting each of said intermediate rollers and chassis,a speed reducing transmission, a shaft extending transversely of saidchassis and adapted to be rocked by said transmission, levers carried bysaid shaft, links connecting said levers with the toggle linkages, andmeans for coupling said transmission to said power unit.

5. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit, asteering gear, a plurality of loadsupporting rollers positioned on eachside of the chassis, an endless track associated with said rollers, anintermediate roller on each side lying approximately on a transverseline passing through the center of gravity of the vehicle, means formounting said intermediate rollers for vertical movement relative to thechassis, a toggle linkage connecting each of said intermediate rollersand chassis, a speed reducing transmission, a shaft extendingtransversely of said chassis and adapted to be rocked by saidtransmission, levers carried by said shaft, links connecting said leverswith the toggle linkages, means for '75 coupling said transmission tosaid power unit, and means controlled by the steering gear for actuatingsaid coupling means.

6. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit mountedthereon, a plurality of load-supporting rollers positioned on each sideof the chassis, an endless track associated with said rollers, anintermediate rolleron each side lying approximately on a transverse linepassing through the center of gravity of the vehicle, means forefiecting relative vertical movement between certain of said rollers andthe chassis to support the entire load of the vehicle on saidintermediate rollers, a shaft driven by said power unit, and means fortransmitting rotary motion of said shaft into vertical movement of themeans for moving the rollers.

7. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit mountedthereon, a steering gear, a plurality of load-supporting rollerspositioned on each side of the chassis, an endless track associated withsaid rollers, an intermediate roller on each side lying approximately ona transverse line passing through the center of gravity of the vehicle,a rotary shaft, means for efiecting relative vertical movement betweencertain of said rollers and the chassis to support the entire load ofthe vehicle on said intermediate rollers, means for transmitting rotarymotion of said shaft into vertical movement of the roller moving means,and means controlled by the steering gear for transmitting operatingmotion from said power unit to said rotary shaft.

8. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit, asteering gear, a plurality of load-supporting rollers positioned on eachside of the chassis, an endless track associated with said rollers, anintermediate roller on each side lying approximately on a transverseline passing through the center of gravity of the vehicle, means forraising all rollers except the intermediate rollers to shift the weightof the vehicle to said intermediate rollers, and means controlled by thesteering gear for coupling said raising means to said power unit.

9. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit, aplurality of load-supporting rollers positioned on each side of thechassis, an endless track associated with said rollers, an intermediateroller on each side lying approximately on a transverse line passingthrough the center of gravity of the vehicle, toggle linkages associatedwith the rollers near the ends of the vehicle for raising them to shiftthe weight of the vehicle to the intermediate rollers, and means fortransmitting operating motion from said power unit to said linkages.

10. An endless track vehicle comprising a chassis, a power unit, asteering gear, a plurality of load-supporting rollers positioned on eachside of the chassis, an endless track associated with tuated by thesteering gear for controlling the 3,

transmitting means.

ADOLPHE KEGRESSE.

